4 minute read
Invaluable Values
By Brianne Houck
While military service can be, undoubtedly, demanding and require an inordinate amount of sacrifice; there certainly are benefits to serving in one of the branches of the United States Armed Forces - one of them being the universally-applicable attributes that are acquired. These attributes, which will be explicated further, are very desirable in a potential employee, as one can already imagine.
For that reason (and others), many employers want to hire Veterans to be part of their workforce. Consequently, the Veteran unemployment rate in the United States perpetually decreased through 2019 amongst more than a decade prior in comparison (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2020). In fact, per the U.S. Department of Labor (2020), 2019 had the lowest Veteran unemployment rate (3.1%) since the year 2000. Furthermore, despite 2020 being a year of precariousness and transition in the job market; many employers continue to have an affinity for hiring Veterans. So what are those valuable characteristics that Veterans will “bring to the table” in a civilian organization to assuredly bolster its performance? First and foremost, Veterans are inarguably disciplined, as they had to be as a basic requirement for military service. From the first day of boot camp, service members are taught to not move (along with almost everything else perhaps with the exception of breathing) without command; to organize and maintain their barracks room in a particular manner; and to always appear in a pristine uniform with attention right down to every minute detail in how that uniform should appear (to maintain just that: the uniformity of the unit in appearance). And, this is just the beginning. Boot camp and the formative portion of military service really serve as an indoctrination for laying the foundation for what will be needed for the future, and part of the basis of that is discipline. This translates to a civilian job in that a former service member is going to pay very close attention to the details in what they need to do to get the job done and be meticulous, yet efficient about it. Furthermore, no one knows the criticality of punctuality quite like a Veteran. As many former service members can attest: To be early is to be on-time and to be on-time is to be late, as per military standards. To a civilian, the scrupulous attention to detail and high standards can almost seem pedantic;
however, they impart the discipline that will be needed for that service member, which then, henceforth, follows them even after departure from military service.
A second added value that Veterans bring to the civilian job arena is that of teamwork and unit cohesion. Service members are taught, again very early on, that they look out for their team members always.
This is what the commonly-known expression “got your six” implies and embodies. As corroborated by such publications as the Washington Examiner, the origin of that metaphor derives from World War I fighter pilots in which the rear of the plane (the most vulnerable position for attack) correlates to the six o’clock position; hence, “got your six” has become an omnipresent expression throughout the military to mean “I got your back” (Wenstrup, 2019). The reason teamwork is crucial (as current and former service members know) is that a team can be the difference between life and death, as well as the mission being a success or a failure – the stakes are high to say the least. Thus, Veterans know the value of a team in accomplishing even a workplace “mission” and gives that entity its due respect.
Finally, Veterans carry with them from their time in service an inborn integrity. To reiterate - due to the tendency of stakes being high in a military environment, a service member has to be able to unequivocally trust their unit mates regardless of the situation. To have built that level of trust, a service member has to be honest and all-around ethical. This is not to imply that every person who has ever served was/is infallible from an ethical perspective, but certainly integrity is indispensable right from the inception of military service. It, like discipline, provides a crucial framework from which specific skills will then build from. This unwavering integrity is then carried with Veterans into the civilian career environment.
With just the aforementioned characteristics, one could easily ascertain the exceptional values (in addition to skills) that Veterans could add to a workplace. Hopefully, this continues to inspire even more businesses to incorporate transitioning Veterans into their workforce. As they have unique values to add to a workplace; a business can in turn give back to the men and women who have served by helping them transition to their next “mission” in a civilian job role. www.HomelandMagazine.com
Transitioning out of the Military into the Civilian Workforce?
Finding a job in the civilian world may seem easy at first. After all, you have learned skills, practiced leadership and demonstrated initiative that will make you successful wherever you go.
The reality, though, is that it can be difficult. In fact, it can be downright depressing, demotivating and you may feel totally disillusioned.
Veterans In Transition is dedicated to you and to helping you succeed in your transition.
For editorial & monthly columns regarding transitioning to business, career advice, tips, workshops, transition to education, entrepreneurship, straight-forward legal tips for Military and Veteran Business Owners and more visit Veterans In Transition at www.tinyurl.com/Veterans-In-Transition
